Prosapia Aenigmatis - The Family Riddle

Chapter 2

Aislinn yawned and stretched as she looked around the dreary dorm room. She was the only person still in bed. Great, she thought, just what I need. Aislinn had Potions first thing this morning. She got up and dressed quickly. When Aislinn was properly dressed and ready, she grabbed her books and made her way down to the common room. A group of seventh years were sitting near the fire and two first years were in the corner playing a game of exploding snap. Aislinn looked at the clock over the mantle and saw that she had twenty minutes until the beginning of her favorite class. When she looked back at the group by the fire, she noticed Marcus Flint was motioning for her to come over. She smiled and made her way across the room. "Good morning, Marcus. Did you need something? I am kind of late for Potions."

He laughed. "Not me, my sister, she wants me to tell you to look over your notes from last class. She said Snape is on the warpath today. Seems he had Longbottom in detention last night, and you know what that means." He rolled his eyes and laughed again.

"Pop Quiz," they said at the same time.

"Thanks for the warning, Marcus. Although it might have been more useful had your sister woken me up and told me herself. It is a little late for me to study now. Good thing I have an extraordinary amount of natural talent in the potions department." Aislinn raised an eyebrow and he laughed again. She flashed a bright smile and headed toward the dungeons.

She thought about Marcus on her way to class. He was no Draco, of course, but he was a really nice and funny guy. He was also a great Quidditch captain. Sure he was no Einstein and he was rather old, but he was fun to be around. He reminded her a lot of the Weasley twins. Now if he would only do something about those teeth. Aislinn stopped thinking long enough to realize that she was staring at the closed door leading to the classroom of her favorite teacher. She opened the door and walked in. Aislinn said a silent thank you in her mind for the fact that Snape was not there yet. She walked across the room, taking her place next to Marianne Flint, and began unloading her supplies.

"Good morning sleepyhead! Did you see Marcus?" Marianne laughed at the look on Aislinn's face.

"I got the message you were so gracious to leave behind for me, if that is what you meant," she said with mock sarcasm. "Why didn't you just wake me up and tell me yourself? I can't believe I slept so late."

"Wake you up? No Way! You know how you are if someone wakes you up. Your temper gets so nasty! You know, I sometimes wonder if you have runespoor blood somewhere in your ancestry." Marianne laughed and dodged Aislinn's hand as it came up to swat her on the shoulder.

Their laughter was interrupted as the classroom door flew open and banged loudly against the wall. Aislinn always dreaded the days after Professor Snape had that complete idiot Longbottom in detention. Maybe someone should anonymously tell Snape to give Longbottom detention with Filch instead. It would be a win-win situation in her opinion. The students wouldn't have to endure the merciless wrath of Snape, and Longbottom would get his proper punishment for being so incompetent. She wondered briefly if Longbottom was related to Crabbe or Goyle.

"Students," Snape's voice bellowed and echoed loudly off the walls. A few Hufflepuffs gasped loudly at the sound. "Put away your supplies and get out your quill, ink and parchment." Someone groaned audibly. Aislinn looked to see Nathanial Baddock cover his mouth. He was clearly horrified that he had done that out loud. Everyone's head turned back to the front of the class.

Snape's eyes were bulging. Aislinn could tell he was livid; his upper lip curled into a menacing sneer. "Twenty points from Slytherin, Mr. Baddock." The words rolled off his tongue like venom. Nathanial looked as if he were about to cry. As far as they knew, Snape had never taken points from his own house before. And twenty was a huge amount, even compared to what she had heard he took from the Gryffindors, Fred and George included. He seemed to be studying Nathanial's reaction. "I am most disappointed, Mr. Baddock. It would not be such a surprise to see that sort of blatant disrespect coming from a Hufflepuff," Aislinn noticed several Hufflepuff girls shrink down into their seats. "But to hear it from a member of my own house, Incorrigible!" He paused and looked over the rest of the students. "Now if everyone could please contain their displeasure, I would appreciate if you could get out the requested material." His voice was warning them that he would tolerate nothing else today. Snape turned and strode over to the blackboard, his black robes flowing behind him.

Aislinn sighed to herself. This was why she was so smitten with him. Quinn told her she was strange, but she didn't care. Aislinn loved a man who exuded both power and authority. Snape did that in abundance, as did her father. She respected both men immensely. Aislinn began removing her writing supplies from her bag as she watched Professor Snape gracefully write the customary amount of four questions on the board. His pop quizzes might have only been four questions, but they were notoriously difficulty.

As they finished answering the questions and the last quill was set down, Snape stood up behind his desk and held out his wand. "Apiscor Scriptura." The papers flew to his desk and piled themselves neatly on one corner. They sat in silence as he lifted the first quiz off the stack and began to mark them. Aislinn knew she had done well, but she couldn't help becoming nervous as he sneered and even laughed outright at some of the quiz papers.

When he had graded the last paper, Snape stood up. He walked to the front of the room and began reading out grades and commenting on each student's work. This was harsh, even for Snape. Nathanial must have really infuriated him. Professor Snape had always been cruel, but Aislinn had never seen him this bad.

"Rianna Branstone, I will not embarrass you by reading your grade out to the class. However, if you don't mind, could you at least pretend you know something about Potions? Two of the questions were a review from last year. Surely you remember last years final, Miss Branstone? I have never seen a Shrinking Solution produce a result quite like yours did." He sneered at her and turned to chastise someone else.

Aislinn felt sorry for her briefly and then decided that Rianna should have remembered that. Aislinn certainly remembered last year's final. They had been tested on Shrinking Solutions, standard final for third years. Everyone had done well until it was Rianna's turn. She tested her solution on a goldfish and chaos had erupted. The small goldfish had grown so large that the students were pressed against the wall, trying not to suffocate. If Aislinn had gotten that result out of a Shrinking Solution, she would have done nothing but study all summer.

"Aislinn Macnair." She held her breath as he spoke. "Perfect score. Well done, Miss Macnair." Although his facial expression gave no hint of it, Snape's eyes seemed to smile at her. Aislinn slowly let out her breath. That was extreme praise coming from him. He continued calling out names and grades, and giving nasty comments to various Hufflepuffs. Snape dismissed the class when he was finished and Aislinn gathered up her things and set out into the hall.

When she walked out of the room she saw the back of a blonde boy who was conversing with two large brooding figures. Crabbe and Goyle, she thought. Aislinn tried to push down the blush that was threatening to take over her face. She held her head high to walk past them. When she neared the group of boys, someone reached out and grabbed her arm. It was Draco.

"Pop Quiz huh?" He smirked at the confused look on her face. Clearly this wasn't what she had wanted him to say. "I was there yesterday when Longbottom's potion exploded and doused the entire class. Luckily I hid under the desk. That stuff looked like it could have put a real damper on my natural glow." She waited for him to laugh at his last statement, but he never did. Okay, maybe Quinn was right. He is fairly vain. Someone calling after Draco interrupted her thoughts.

"Natural glow? Is that what they are calling it these days? I always thought that it was called 'pallor'." The three Gryffindors laughed.

"Very witty, Weasley. Did you have to consult Granger on that one? Sarcastic comments never were your strong point." Draco eyed the red-haired boy for a moment. "Now that I think about it, your only strong points seem to be following Potter around like a lost puppy and drooling over the Mudblood as if she were a piece of meat." At that last comment Potter and Granger each grabbed one of Ron Weasley's arms. He seemed furious. From what little she knew about him, Aislinn decided that Ron was the one who had the temper in the family. The Weasley's didn't seem to dole out their genes evenly. Ron got the temper, Fred and George the sense of humor. That pompous arse Percy got the family's naiveté and Ginny, well there must have been nothing but hero worship left for that poor girl. Hermione Granger stepped forward and broke Aislinn out of her thoughts. She saw Granger walk up to Draco and decided to take action.

"Do you always let your girlfriend take care of your business Weasley?" Aislinn asked him with a smirk. She couldn't just stand there and not participate. Potter and Weasley bashing had become a Slytherin pastime. She normally fought back any urge to join in, for Quinn's sake, but now she felt it fly out of her involuntarily. She noticed Ron begin to speak, but Potter held up his hand and Weasley fell silent.

"Who are you again?" Potter asked with a look of confusion. He genuinely had no idea who she was. Aislinn could use that.

Aislinn let out a cold and mirthless laugh. "Don't worry about who I am Potter. Only worry that I know who you are." That would get him, she thought. Aislinn didn't usually make empty threats, but this was fun.

Potter stuck his chest out slightly and lifted his chin. "Is that a threat?"

Aislinn put on her most dazzling smile. "You can make it whatever you want it to be." Aislinn saw Draco grinning at her and blushed with pleasure at his obvious approval. She hesitated for a split second and then grabbed Draco's arm to lead him away, not looking back at the three Gryffindors who stood stone still. They seemed completely confused at the scene that had just happened.

When they rounded the corner, Aislinn chanced a look up at Draco. He was still grinning, but it had changed to an evil, calculated grin.

"Fun isn't it?" He raised an eyebrow and leaned back against the wall with his arms folded over his chest. Aislinn went momentarily breathless at his appearance. She had always loved it when he cocked one eyebrow. He did seem to enjoy that sort of thing immensely. She thought back to last year when Draco and Potter had dueled in the hall outside of Potions. Potter had thrown a "Furnunculus" at Draco and it hit Goyle. Draco then threw a "Densaugeo" at Potter and it hit Granger. Aislinn had never laughed so hard in her life. Snape had insulted Granger and then tore into Potter and Weasley taking a ripe 50 points each from the two Gryffindors. Aislinn had been on cloud nine for the rest of that week. After thinking back on that, Aislinn could see why Draco enjoyed torturing them so much.

"Yeah, actually it was." Aislinn tried to control the smile that was bursting to be let out. She had to play it cool; she didn't want him to think she was a moron. Aislinn looked up at him again and found herself staring directly into his silvery gray eyes. She felt her knees start to weaken. She forced her gaze upon the statue of the one eye witch that was behind his back and Aislinn swore she heard Draco snigger. When she looked at him again however there was no evidence of it. In fact, he seemed to be mentally scrutinizing her.

"You know Macnair, I think I might be able to make a true Slytherin out of you after all." He winked at her and left abruptly.

Aislinn stared after him. 'A true Slytherin,' what did he mean by that? She had never acted in any manner that would make her any less than Slytherin. She sighed; boys were so complicated. Aislinn couldn't figure them out. She turned back toward the Slytherin common room when she heard a loud bang come from the end of the hall. The bang was followed by the maniacal laughter of two boys.

The next thing Aislinn heard was a loud bellow that oddly sounded like the word "Weasley". The voice was unmistakably that of the caretaker. Aislinn laughed to herself and was a little disappointed that she missed out on witnessing the twins' prank firsthand. She then thought of Quinn.

"Oh no, Quinn!" she said to herself and ran back down the hall toward Ravenclaw Tower. Quinn had Potions the next day and she didn't know about the quiz. Potions was Quinn's least favorite subject and Aislinn was sure Quinn would need the extra time to study. She rounded the corner and ran right into someone, causing them to spill their books all over the floor. It was Quinn. She leaned down and helped her friend gather her books.

"Oh Quinn, I am so sorry. I was just looking for you to..." Before Aislinn could finish her sentence, Argus Filch came running around the corner screaming. He was followed by half a dozen suits of armor. The suits of armor each brandished some form of deadly weapon, although they were so rusty Aislinn doubted they would have even been able to break the skin if used. The armor was emitting a cackling sound as various suits lunged at Filch, trying to capture him or trip him.

Following the armor was a flock of students who were all breathless from laughter. Aislinn and Quinn looked at each other briefly and ran after the group. They made their way to the head of the crowd and saw that Filch was screaming again.

"Someone, help me! Anyone! Weasley!!" Filch rounded another corner and headed down into the dungeon with a parade of armor and onlookers following him. He had now gathered quite a following in his mad dash for assistance. "Severus!!" Filch wailed as he ran bust into the Potions class and ran around the room, apparently too terrified to stop. The armor followed him but the students stopped at the door. As much as they wanted to see the show, no one was dumb enough to go running into Snape's class. Filch ran behind Snape and cowered down. Snape looked absolutely furious.

Just then they heard two boys laugh as they ran to join the group. "Oh man, Fred, George, you missed it!" Lee Jordan exclaimed to his friends as they peeked into the class to get a look at the outcome of their prank.

"Snape really looks hacked off doesn't he?" George said with a look of concern.

"Snape always looks hacked off George, like someone replaced his boxers with frilly pink knickers," Fred joked to his brother. As soon as he said it, he knew it had been too loud.

"Fred Weasley, detention." Snape tried to sound calm, but as he was trying to fight off armor, he ended up sounding strained. Snape then pulled out his wand and shouted "Finite Incantatum." The armor fell lifelessly to the ground. Everyone stared at it silently for a moment. The students then heard a loud growl and Fred and George looked at each other and bolted from the room. The rest of the crowd stood back as Argus Filch came tearing through the door and ran after the twins. They watched Fred jump over Mrs. Norris to get away and as George tried the same, he fell and ended up on top of the wretched cat. Mrs. Norris let out a wild cry and Filch yelled even louder. George scrambled to his feet and took off again. Filch stopped and picked up the semi-flattened cat. He looked her over to make sure she was all right and turned to yell at the fleeing twins.

"You can't hide!" He turned back to the giggling crowd and they all fell quiet. "Whoever is standing here ten seconds from now has detention for a week!" he roared. Quinn and Aislinn muttered their good-byes and took off as fast as they could in opposite directions headed to their second class of the day.

* * *

Quinn bit her lip and stared at the door to her Charms classroom. The red-haired girl was sitting in the front alone. It was perfect; all Quinn had to do was go sit next to her. Quinn willed her legs to carry her into the room but they didn't seem to work.

Quinn had been studying Ginny a bit over the past week or so. From what she had observed Quinn was convinced Ginny was the most boring girl on the planet. She studied a lot, which Quinn admired but Quinn rarely saw her laugh or smile. How could she come from a family that spawned Fred and George and not have a sense of humor? Was their genetic capability for humor spent when Fred was produced?

Colin Creevey was approaching from the other side of the hallway and Quinn knew she had to sit next to Ginny before he got there. She squared her shoulders and walked confidently into the classroom. Quinn stopped at Ginny's table and put on her happiest and most painful smile.

"Could I sit here Ginny?" Quinn asked in a sugary voice. Ginny nodded, smiling as well. Quinn pulled her Charms book out of her bag and saw Colin Creevey enter the room, looking downcast. Quinn smiled happily until Colin found a seat directly behind Ginny. Quinn needed to act quickly. Ginny was never very talkative so Quinn decided to bring up what she knew was Ginny's favorite topic: Harry Potter. This was Quinn's first and largest mistake. "Hey Ginny, isn't your brother friends with Harry Potter? What is he like?" Quinn's eyes widened as Ginny dropped her quill and smiled brightly. She turned to face Quinn now and blushed.

"Oh he's wonderful. He's brave and smart and so nice." Ginny paused to sigh loudly and Quinn fought back rolling her eyes. "He's friends with the whole family actually. He's come to stay at our house a few times, during the summers of course. Last year he went to the Quidditch World Cup with us, we got to sit in the top box together. Well not together; it was the whole family of course. Ron and Hermione are his best friends but he knows the whole family." Ginny paused to take a breath and Quinn seized her opportunity.

"Speaking of your family," she said, hoping to steer the conversation toward Fred. Before she could even finish the thought Colin Creevey interrupted her.

"Oh are you talking about Harry? He's just wonderful," Colin said, a dreamy look of admiration in his eyes. Quinn sighed as Colin now began do describe Harry's nauseatingly attractive qualities. "Well of course he was Triwizard champion so you know he is a brilliant wizard and he does so well in classes. And he's so nice to everyone. Of course Ginny is the lucky one, he's actually been at her house!" Colin smiled at Ginny who blushed scarlet. Quinn could feel her lunch tumble around inside her stomach as the two continued describing Harry and his exploits.

"Well he didn't come to see me or anything. He came to see my brothers, and because those people he stays with during the summer are wretched. You wouldn't believe the way they treat him. Honestly can you imagine poor Harry forced to do chores and practically starving to death every summer?" Ginny sighed again and her whole body seemed to collapse from the weight of her obsession. Quinn had thought she had it bad for Fred. "But he's so brave about it, he never even complains about them. He's just so wonderful. And the way he plays Quidditch," Quinn saw another opening and jumped in.

"Speaking of your Quidditch team," Quinn started to say, the words tumbling out of her mouth in a rush to freedom. Quinn had to bring up Fred; she wanted to know more about him.

"Yes he is the youngest Quidditch player in a century. He's just brilliant. He plays with my brothers during the summer sometimes. I bet he'll be a professional Seeker one-day, don't you think Colin?"

"Oh yes, definitely. I don't know much about Quidditch but Harry is brilliant." Quinn wanted to add that she knew he was brilliant as she had see Harry beat the Ravenclaw team on so many occasions. She knew however that trying to speak was pointless. She simply watched the conversation like a tennis match, her head pivoting back and forth between Ginny and Colin.

"Of course now that he's captain, the team is doing spectacularly. He's a brilliant strategist of course; he and Ron work out the most brilliant plays. And of course he's the best flier the school has seen in a long time." Ginny continued talking of Harry's Quidditch prowess even after Professor Flitwick called the class to attention. Luckily Professor Flitwick never minded a bit of chaos in his class. Quinn sighed audibly. Ginny renewed the discussion as the students began practicing Summoning Charms. Quinn wondered if she could summon a pair of earplugs. "Oh and the way his Quidditch uniform look on him, scarlet really brings out his eyes." Quinn wondered how scarlet could bring green eyes into prominence but had given up on interjecting the conversation.

Halfway through class and ten minutes into a solemn discussion on the finer points of Harry's Charms ability, Quinn started to have second thoughts. Maybe Fred wasn't worth all this. He was just a boy after all and Quinn had never thought she would sink this low for a boy. "And he went into the dragon pen with just his wand, it was so brilliant. And all he needed was one word, Accio!" Ginny continued to describe in detail the first task of the Triwizard tournament. Quinn wondered if banging her head on the desk would be rude, or if she might be able to convince Ginny that it was relaxing. Quinn listened to Harry's every swoop and swirl around the Hungarian Horntail, "The most dangerous of the four you know." Quinn pictured Fred in her mind. Her most fond memory of him was during her second year, when Gryffindor had won the Quidditch Cup. Fred always looked wonderful in his Quidditch robes and he had been grinning and laughing for days afterward. Now it was Quinn's turn to audibly sigh.

"I know!" Ginny said loudly, snapping Quinn out of her reverie. "Can you believe anyone would like that horrible Malfoy more than Harry?" Quinn thought briefly of Aislinn and smiled a bit. "And she insulted my brother." Quinn was about to ask which brother when Colin jumped in again.

"Only an evil Slytherin could like that Malfoy. And you know Harry is a target for that sort of people because they are all jealous. We're all a bit jealous I suppose." Colin now adopted the air of a brilliant philosopher unleashing a chilling truth upon the human race.

"Did you ever think Draco Malfoy was attractive?" Ginny asked now, startling Quinn with her question. Quinn paused. A chance to talk...how could she change the topic to Fred?

"Uh," She started.

"Of course not." Ginny interrupted before Quinn could say any more. "Draco is just upset because he will never be the person that Harry is."

"No kidding," Colin said now. "There are girls in this school that worship Malfoy but I'll never understand it. I don't know Malfoy that well but if he's an enemy of Harry's and of your family Ginny, then he is an enemy of mine as well." Quinn wondered briefly if Colin realized how stupid he was. Perhaps once you are that stupid you lose the ability to assess your own intelligence.

"Well, Malfoy is the enemy of our whole family. As is his father," Ginny cringed a bit at these words but she continued before Quinn could ask about it. "And any girl that defends him only does it because she knows Harry is too good for her." Ginny acted as though Harry and Draco were the only two boys in the school. Quinn furrowed her brows in thought but her head began to pound as the two launched into further discussion of the way Harry's eyes looked in different colored robes. Quinn felt her neck tighten up as she looked back and forth between them. The conversation became an all out argument over whether Harry looked best in scarlet or green.

As Quinn mentally estimated the number of seconds remaining in class-772-talk turned to Harry's eating habits. By 510 seconds Quinn was close to tears. She was convinced that enduring this conversation was some form of torture. Perhaps You-Know-Who was perfecting it after discovering it to be more painful than the Cruciatus Curse.

Eight, seven, thought Quinn, clutching her bag as she watched the clock. Three, thank you Merlin, two, one, "Yes!" Quinn exclaimed as the bell rang and she was free for the day.

"You will? That's great. I can't wait to hang out." Ginny said now. Quinn glanced up at her with wide eyes. "We'll have a great time in Hogsmeade. See you tomorrow in Potions then." Quinn felt a silent scream break out from her very soul. She now knew that whichever supernatural being actually existed, it hated her.

* * * * *

Aislinn was waiting for Quinn in the library that afternoon as usual. Quinn trudged in with slumped shoulders and her head hanging. She bumped right into someone who seemed to be lurking behind a bookshelf. Quinn looked up into the horrific face of Crabbe, a fifth year Slytherin. If Quinn had thought things couldn't get worse, the look on his face told her otherwise. She squinted her eyes at him, trying to verify what she was seeing. Crabbe was giving her an alluring look, or at least he was trying to. When he raised his eyebrows suggestively, Quinn felt the contents of her stomach start to rise. She ducked away quickly and ran toward Aislinn's table, attracting a nasty stare from Madam Pince as she went.

Aislinn looked up from the latest copy of Teen Witch she had been reading to see Quinn stumbling over to her looking extremely ill. "Are you all right?" she asked her friend who plopped down in the chair across from her, still looking as if she had just eaten a bowl of flobberworm mucous. Quinn just bashed her head loudly against the hard wooden table and let out a pitiful moan. "Are you going to tell me what is wrong or are you just going to continue trying to emboss the likeness of Fred into the top of this table with your head?"

Quinn looked up and sighed. She began to retell her conversation with Ginny and Colin, the words spilling out of her as she returned her pounding head to the tabletop. Aislinn burst out laughing as Quinn wondered aloud why anyone would want to know how much butter Harry liked on his toast. By the time Quinn brought up her impending Hogsmeade visit, Aislinn couldn't breathe for laughing. Madam Pince shushed the girls loudly from her oversized desk. As Quinn described the Gryffindors' Malfoy bashing, Aislinn let out a derisive snort.

"What did they say about him?" Aislinn asked now with a strange look on her face. Hear we go, Quinn thought, biting her lip. If Aislinn had heard Ginny say, "any girl that defends him only does it because she knows Harry is too good for her," Quinn shuddered to think what would have happened. Aislinn eyed Quinn closely. "They told you what happened, didn't they?" Aislinn said now, her eyes flashing with anger. Quinn furrowed her brow in intense confusion. Her already precarious mental state could not take an outburst from Aislinn.

"What are you on about?" Quinn asked irritably.

"So you don't know? They weren't talking about me?" Aislinn asked. She looked down and seemed relieved. Quinn guessed that Aislinn had been about to let loose a furious diatribe involving the words bloody Gryffindors.

"No. Why, what did you do?" Quinn asked, with wide eyes. Had Ginny been discussing Aislinn when she had brought up Slytherin girls? Quinn had assumed it was Pansy or perhaps Millicent Bulstrode. Both girls followed Draco around like apostles to the almighty savior. Quinn tried to remember what Ginny had said, and then she gasped. "Did you insult one of the Weasleys? Come on Aislinn why would you do that?"

"Well I..." Aislinn thought for a moment, and decided to stand her ground. "Ron Weasley was insulting Draco. It was like I couldn't control myself. The words just came spilling out." Aislinn's tough demeanor fell away; she was rather ashamed. The truth was that she hadn't even considered how her actions reflected on Quinn until that moment. She hadn't thought of much all day in fact, other than Draco's steel-gray eyes staring into her own. Aislinn was usually the one making fun of boy-crazy bimbos like Pansy, but she certainly hadn't acted any better. She might as well tattoo Draco's name to her bum while she was at it. "I didn't really insult him. Besides Quinn they didn't even know who I was."

"Well I'm sure they'll find out now, and then what will I tell Ginny? Anyone that knows us knows we're best friends. Of course this is assuming Ginny ever lets me get a word into the conversation." Quinn was trying to remain angry but she was too damn tired. "I suppose Malfoy was there? Is that how it started?" Aislinn turned a light shade of pink and seemed unusually interested in the end of her quill feather.

"Quinn don't be mad. You know that I have always watched what I said to Potter and his little group for your sake, I just couldn't stop it this time. If I had known though of how upset you would be, I would have left so that I wouldn't have said anything. But honestly Quinn, would you have just stood there while someone insulted Fred?" Aislinn smiled slyly now, "Besides, you need my help to study for your Potions quiz tomorrow." Quinn adopted a horrified look and bashed her head against the desk once more.

"You are lucky that you're so good at Potions and I am wretched at it. We are a perfect match I suppose. Besides I can't stay mad at you after seeing what life would be like as Ginny's best friend." Quinn smirked now and Aislinn knew she was no longer angry.

"True," Aislinn gave her friend a look of pity, "I can't imagine having to sit there listening to Ginny go on and on about Potter like he was the leader of the free world. And Colin Creevey, I always did think there was something funny about the way he worships Potter. Seems to me like he will be trying to give Ginny a run for her money." Aislinn watched as Quinn sighed heavily. She knew her friend was dreading the impending visit to Hogsmeade with the Harry Potter fan club, but she couldn't think of anything she could do to make her feel better. She thumbed through her copy of Teen Witch that she had been reading and came across and article that Quinn might find use of. It was in the Slytherin interest section and it was titled "Get the boy you want, No matter how it must be done." She didn't know if Quinn would actually do any of the things that were suggested. Several were outlandish, even for her tastes. For example: 36. Kidnap his favorite pet and pretend to find it in your bed. Insist he come and retrieve it himself. Come on, who would actually fall for something like that? She laughed out loud and pushed the magazine over to Quinn.

Quinn looked down at the article Aislinn was pointing too. She looked back up at her friend clearly alarmed. "You are joking right? Aislinn, I would have to be insane to do some of these things. Look at number 12. Slip a small amount of apetitio potion into his pumpkin juice at dinner and hide in his dorm. Aislinn! That is terrible, never mind that desire potions are illegal. Sometimes I forget how truly Slytherin you are."

Aislinn laughed. "Thank you for the compliment, now," she pulled out a large black notebook and plopped it on the table, "these are my Potions notes. Look over them all. Snape is likely to be in an even worse mood tomorrow after that little show your beloved put on today." Quinn smiled at the thought of Fred being her beloved. "I'm pretty sure he didn't appreciate having Filch cling to him desperately as six angry suits of armor tried to throw him out of their way. Your quiz tomorrow is likely to be extremely hard. Everything you need is in there. I have to go and find Marianne now, I need to see if she wants to go with me to Hogsmeade, since you are going with the future Mrs. Potter." Quinn gave her a look of pain and Aislinn burst out laughing again. "Good Luck in Potions!" she called over her shoulder as she left Quinn in the library to study. Quinn studied better alone, and Aislinn knew that she would need all the time she could have to prepare for the quiz tomorrow.